When we are into business, we must see to it that we have set goals for the improvement and enhancement of the company’s operation and the company as a whole. There must be a lot of goals for the different areas in business. Just like in marketing, a very broad area in business, we need to constantly set goals that we need to achieve. Marketing is very vital in a business entity for it is a way of letting the general public be aware of a certain product or service and to ensure that every customer will be satisfied.

Customer satisfaction is what business wanted to achieve for the business to be highlighted on the market. In achieving the different goals set by the management or key personnel of a company, there must be specific step-by-step process to be done by the collective efforts of the members of employees. There must be a definite and clear method to achieve those goals. These are in the form of action plans. Through action plan, the details of each step toward achieving a certain goal will be specified.

Below are examples of marketing action plans that you must check out.

Sales and Marketing Action Plan Template

Strategic Marketing Action Plan Template

Restaurant Marketing Action Plan Template

Product Marketing Action Plan Template

Event Marketing Action Plan Template

Marketing Action Plan Gantt Chart Template

Marketing Strategy Action Plan Template

30-60-90-Day Marketing Action Plan Example

Branding Development Marketing Action Plan Example

Business Marketing Action Plan Example

CrossFit Marketing Action Plan Example

Steps in Creating an Effective Marketing Action Plan

Goals are hard to achieve when you do not know what is the first and succeeding steps that you must take in order to achieve those goals. You might see your goal at the end, but the pathway is dark and gloomy. However, with action plans, you will have a step-by-step guide to achieve the goal, and you can clearly see the way toward achieving your goal. Hence, every entity must create a specific action plan to achieve a certain goal, for every goal has a definite action plan to be undertaken. But first, you must know how to create an action plan that is effective and would surely help you in achieving your goal.

Below are the steps on how to create an effective marketing action plan.

1. Analyze the current state of affairs with your company’s marketing efforts

Before creating a marketing action plan, you must first need to take a hard look at your goals and what your company’s marketing is doing right now to achieve them. It is undeniable that you are on track with some of the plans but you may be way off behind the mark with the others. You must hold yourself accountable. The point is to hold yourself accountable to assess what step or method is working well and what are those that still needs to be improved.

You can ask these questions in your assessment:

• What are the current pain points that we are facing?
• Are we focused on the right things at the right time to have an effective impact on the business?
• Do we have the right knowledge, experience, and tools or do we need to supplement the team in some way?

2. Brainstorm and list of everything you can do to improve your marketing efforts

Most of the time, when we are already in the process of doing the steps to achieve a certain goal, it can be hard for us to take a step back and reflect the current things that we are doing as well as the other tasks that we should be doing. We do not want to spare extra time to check what we have achieved so far. However, taking a step back can really yield important opportunities.

Before you are running neck-deep with tasks, see to it that you are listing all the things that you still need to do and you should be trying. This will open up new possibilities and ways to achieve your goals. There might be novel ideas that can be contributed by your other members, which can be helpful to effectively reach your goal.

3. Make a priority on your list

When you will be bombarded with a lot of tasks, there is a huge probability that you are going to miss other tasks. You might also be doing first the tasks that can be done later, and you will end up late in doing the things that are already due. Knowing what to tackle first is critical. Rather than trying to do everything at once, you must decide first what your top priorities are in order for you to beat the deadlines. In determining which task is with the highest priority, you must evaluate their impact on the business as well as the time and effort they will consume for them to be executed.

4. Start at the end

In creating your action plan, it must be prospect-focused, content-driven, measurable, and, as much as possible, automated. You must focus in creating a great content that your customer wants to see or know. Hence, you must start your marketing action plan at the end: who is the target market of your content and how do you want them to act or react upon receiving your content? This is among the first things that you must determine and take action. Your content must be delivered in a systematized process that drives analytics and use automated software. In this way, you can set them on auto-pilot while you can still work on other aspects of your business.

Digital Marketing Action Plan Example

Marketing Action Plan Template Example

Marketing and Communication Strategy and Action Plan Example

5. Create a 10-day, 30-day, and 90-day marketing action plan

Then, once you already know where to start and what you are going to focus first, you must figure out the specific things that needs to be done to make it happen. The tasks must be broken down in simpler, individual tasks and decide who is going do that certain task as well as the deadline for such tasks. You must set up and organize your plan according to what you can accomplish in the next 10, 30, and 90 days. In this way, you are organizing the tasks and prioritizing those that need to be done first and you can build a momentum while doing those long-term tasks. Additionally, you maintain your focus, and your attention will not get diverted because of the specific tasks that you are going to do.

It is important to carve out the time in your schedule to move the important tasks forward. You may delay other tasks if you think it is not of the highest priority as of this moment and let some other things slide for the interest of a greater good. You can let other things fall by the wayside temporarily and get back to it when they are already needed in achieving your goal.

6. Select your channel

There are a lot of channels and methods for your business marketing. With the emergence of digital media, people from far reaches of the world can be easily reached and marketing can be somewhat easier to disseminate. Hence, your marketing plan needs to have leverage using the most convenient and effective method. You must carefully select the channels or methods at which your audience can easily connect at the lowest possible cost. You must also measure the effectivity of your chosen channel to see if it really works for your company.

There are a lot of marketing channels that are used by different types of business, and they can be categorized into two broad categories namely, traditional media and digital media.

• Traditional or legacy media
  • Print media
  • Flyers, leaflets, and posters
  • Broadcast media like radio and television
  • Participation at industry events like expos and exhibits
• Digital or new media
  • Social media
  • Search engine optimization
  • Search engine marketing
  • Webinars

7. Content creation

The key in your marketing campaign is the content that you are using to deliver your message in creating a brand. Therefore, it must contain the right message and must be planned well and coordinated. In your content, you must include the needs of the customers and what you are offering to satisfy those needs as well as what makes you the best service provider in the market. The rule of thumb in creating the best and effective content is to have twice as much content that identifies the needs of the customer to that of your brand values.

8. Evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing

Lastly, you must accurately measure the return of your marketing spend and then make the necessary adjustments in order to achieve the maximum impact. You must optimize the use of your marketing strategy by analyzing the feedback from the different channels of your marketing. This will help you determine which channel works well and what are those that are are not effective. Then, you can make necessary adjustments based on the lapses that you have noted.

Marketing Strategy Action Plan Example

Social Media Marketing Action Plan Example

Tourism Marketing Action Plan Example

All In

Overall, a marketing action plan is important for an entity to have a step-by-step guide on what to do to achieve the planned goals. An action plan can surely help that a goal is achieved by a certain person or people within a specified time limit. Through this, it is easier for the person to see the end point of the process and have a clearer vision of the path to undertake.

In creating a marketing action plan, there are certain steps that you must perform in order to create a successful and effective action plan, and these are as follows: analyze the current state of affairs of your company’s marketing efforts; brainstorm and list everything you can do to improve your marketing efforts; make a priority on your list; start at the end; create a 10-day, 30-day, and 90-day marketing action plan; select your channels; content creation; and lastly, evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing. These steps could surely help you to come up an effective marketing plan for your company.

On a final note, don’t miss to check out the examples of marketing action plan presented in one of the above sections.